Plus/Minus: a thriller of a week.

Any week where snowfalls don't outnumber Habs wins is a good week, right?

PLUS

+ How great is our captain? What a week for Brian Gionta.
+ Carey Price was just one of the younger guys who impressed me this week. PK put points on the board. Yannick Weber was great against the Rangers. And Picard actually did things.
+ Johan Franzen scored five goals in one game. Um. I don't even know what to say. Other than I'd look really good right now if I'd put him on my All-Star team. And "you don't mess with the Johan."
+ G9 Sports, launched on February 1st, should be in your bookmarks. It's a website, written entirely by female sports fans, that covers every major North American league. Most of its writing staff don't have other blogging outlets, so it's also a great showcase for writers who seriously know their stuff. Take note of two of G9's hockey blogs: "Straight Jackets" which is run by our friend Dannie, and "Leaf It To Her" which may be a Leafs blog but it's also run by our friend Bhavna, who introduced us to the "Joe Thornton Is Canada" concept. We're incredibly proud of both of them. And you should be too!
+ Biznasty scored a goal!!!
+ Congratulations, Green Bay Packers! Now I don't have to stop wearing my Packers tuque.
+ Oh, and the Habs fans at the Super Bowl. Proof that a) we're everywhere and b) there are more expensive tickets in sports. (Which does not refute a Minus in this post.)

MINUS

- See that picture up there? Someone wrote that on the wall in a bathroom by the Bell Centre. I found it on Saturday after the Rangers game ended. I'm often grossed out by things I see in public bathrooms, but this might be the worst. Who on earth would desecrate a public place like this? Those walls are reserved for Habs' names and hearts. This is like graffiti terrorism.
- The snow (or something) prevented Team 990 superfan Louis from being at work on Wednesday night. He's an usher at the Bell Centre, and I was a little disappointed to see he wasn't at the entrance to his section. I could've totally been recognized for the non-celebrity I am. After all, it's not like being the girl on Game Points every Tuesday will get me free meals at the city's finest restaurants.
- Concessions at the Bell Centre got even more expensive. My popcorn was $6.60, and Steph Darwish of Lady Loves Hockey noticed that beer now costs $10.10. What? I remember when beer cost $9.75.
- George W. Bush, Cameron Diaz, and A-Rod were all on TV during the Super Bowl. OK, whatever, thanks, but next time can we see someone on TV who's either relevant or cheering for one of the teams that's playing? There were plenty of celebrities at the Super Bowl. And I bet most of them weren't stuffing popcorn into A-Rod's mouth.

- So a lot of people were upset by a contest on MotherPucker.ca called "Twitter Hockey Hottie" wherein  girls with pretty profile pictures get seeded, then voted off bracket-style and the winner gets a prize. The upside to this contest was that the women who participated last year didn't pander to the online creeps and put up ridiculous pictures that make them look like Maxim wannabe-models. That's literally the upside. So, obviously, this contest already looks like it would be minus material. People spoke out against it, and the guy running the contest decided to cancel it. Of course, he didn't apologize to the people who disagreed with him. He was just too lazy to take the heat for something he'd done, so basically no one on either side of this "debate" is happy. He should have either continued the contest and accepted all the hate directed at him, or cancelled the contest and ended it there, instead of whining like a petulant child. But that's my two cents.

Oh, and happy birthday, Steven Stamkos!